Opening: Saturday, August 9th, 3 p.m The River Is Not a Place (Ibaia ez da toki bat) by Nagore Legarreta Alcelay reflects on the relationship between rivers and society. Rather than mere channels of water, rivers are symbols of fertility, borders, passage, and rebirth—metaphors of perseverance and witnesses to the passing of time. They have inspired poets and artists, woven identities, borne ancestral stories, and stood at the crossroads of social, economic, and ecological tensions. Legarreta’s work, the result of nearly a decade of dialogue with rivers, invites us to question our awareness of this relationship. Her gaze has been replaced by that of the river itself—a constant observer that watches us and reflects the fluidity and instability of contemporary society. In these “liquid times,” where boundaries blur, the river embodies perpetual transformation, reminding us of the importance of learning to navigate change with respect and responsibility. The project, which includes waterways from different latitudes, encourages us to reorient our gaze toward the river and allow it to return its reflection—creating a “river of rivers” through images connected by its own internal logic. This universal perspective invites us to reconsider our relationship with rivers and to open space for dialogue about future challenges. The project, of which we can now appreciate a fragment, also aims—while it runs through MUNTREF—to establish a dialogue with the rivers that now flow as subterranean waterways, giving rise to landscapes hidden within the city of Buenos Aires itself.
The River is not a Place is the project selected as part of Bitamine's (Basque Country) EAS-EZE #9 program for the internationalization of Basque contemporary art by a jury composed of Peio Aguirre, Diana Wechsler, and Bitamine.
The EAS-EZE program is made possible thanks to the support of the Etxepare Institute and the collaboration of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and the Basque Government.
Image: Nagore Legarreta, El río no es un lugar, 2016-2025